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I have been rather disorganised this week with blogging, but it is because I've been reading this AWESOME book!! And by awesome I mean terrifying. Can you believe I was genuinely frightened by this book? I have read other reviews that have said they were disappointed by the lack of 'fear factor'. Well I did not feel this. However I am the person who can't watch the ads for those spooky criminal TV shows because I get all jumpy, and couldn't walk down my darkened hallway for 4 months after I saw 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'. And frankly, I think I really picked the wrong time of my life to read this book. I am house-sitting an old house at the moment which comes with its own 'little stranger', a 400 year old dog. She howls. A lot. So no sooner would my rapidly beating heart recover from a moment of suspense in the book and I was beginning to think that I might indeed survive the night...
would I hear...
AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
I tell you what, that dog does a damn good impression of a ghost.
Now. Shall I tell you a bit about the actual book? 'The Little Stranger' is narrated by a local county doctor in Warwickshire in England, Dr Faraday, who is called to old manor house, Hundreds Hall, to see the young maid who has become ill. Over the following months he becomes increasingly involved with the family who live here, Mrs Ayres and her two grown children, Caroline and Roderick. Following an unforseen tragedy at a party hosted by the Ayres family, their lives begin to unravel as more and more seemingly inexplicable events occur.
I don't want to go into too much detail as this book unravels deliciously, if not a little frustratingly. I found Dr Faraday to be quite annoying and thought that he was far too sensible in regards to the possibility of a ghost. He was always able to rationally explain the appearance of strange marks, strange noises and strange happenings even when logic really didn't fit, passing the most bizarre happenings off as mental delusion (as any good doctor would). I found most of the characters in this book difficult to like and to relate to and found the character of Betty (the malingering adolescent parlour-maid) to be the most endearing. Mrs Ayres appeared cold and distant at first, however as her story evolves she becomes a warmer and more motherly character. Caroline and Roderick both experience the house differently, Roderick becomes desperately maddened by events, whilst Caroline initially resists and justifies them until she too, slowly succumbs to the drama as it unfolds.
This is my first Sarah Waters experience and won't be my last. Apart from all the apprehension and lack of sleep I suffered whilst reading this, I thought it was an utterly brilliant book. I was unnerved by the activity within the house and the tragic effect it had on the family. I just finished this book last night and really want to read it again as I think that upon a reread a somewhat sinister and ever so subtle twist will reveal itself to me. Alright, maybe not entirely subtle, but very much open to interpretation. And for that Sarah Waters, I take my hat, scarf, and sparkly red shoes off to you! You are a genius. This book had a really interesting effect on me. I believed everything I was told (OK, I'm quite gullible) so that when supernatural influences were implied I believed them, and when they were rationalised by logic I believed that too. So I wonder if what I think was implied was actually implied, or if I was looking for too much information and insight that I could never actually receive given that this book was written in first person. Despite its first person narrative, I feel that the perspectives of each character were mostly fairly represented, as much as they could be at least. I think that the narrative was a strength of this book and really gets the reader stuck in wonder as to whether the root of the problems here are mental delusion and strain or supernatural phantasms?
To be honest, I don't know what I believe about the conclusion of this book. I think it is a must read and am desperate to hear what other people thought of this one. Have you read it? Could you sleep?
Other Reviews [if you've reviewed this please let me know and I'll add it to the list]
Farm Lane Books
Savidge Reads
First Tuesday Book Club (spoilers)
Books Please
Book Bath
Constance Reader
Books I Done Read
This will be my first review for the Once Upon a Time IV Challenge, and what a beautiful book to begin with! I have always been a wee bit cautious when faced with a 'fantasy' book, well lets be honest here, frankly terrified!! My brother is an avid fantasy reader and can often be found battling with a book that weighs more than he does and his endless refrains of "Don't worry! It's easy! It's the second book of the 4th trilogy, you read it before the 6th book in the prequel series but the events in it don't actually occur until after the 6th trilogy. Oh yeah, and all the characters are called Saraman." follow me as I run away in terror. And that is why I have never read 'Lord of the Rings'. So where does 'Tender Morsels' actually fit? To preserve my own sense of morals, I am placing it in the 'fairy tale' category, which is frankly a synonym meaning 'fantasy for chickens'.
Tender Morsels is a retelling of the tale of Snow White and Rose Red, a German fairytale. It tells the story of Liga, a broken young woman who disappears from her sad and difficult life into a world far more beautiful, her own perfect heaven. With her she takes her daughter Branza, and a second unborn daughter Urdda. In this world they live peacefully with no threat of danger, poverty or heartbreak. However this magic and perfect happiness cannot last forever and before long, the divide between the real world and Liga's world begins to break down.
It is not only Liga that has made the transition to this world; a kind young man finds himself within this world in the body of a bear and seeks warmth and kindness from the family. An uncouth, beastly dwarf makes several visits searching for riches he cannot attain at home; and another man/bear appears, though not as placid or kind as the first. As the children grow, their encounters with these foreigners lead their paths in separate directions and force them to realise there may be more to life than they know.
This book is beautifully written, exquisitely beautifully written in fact, Margo Lanagan WHO ARE YOU?? The description in this book is vivid, everything just grows inside your head until you feel as though you're there, and that is a rare thing in a book. One thing that Ms Lanagan does which just gives me a hundred goosebumps, is describe the smaller things, the things that don't really matter, that the book doesn't need to fulfill the story, yet makes the reading experience so pleasurable that you wish it was Margo Lanagan who was writing your life! One such passage is when Branza and Urdda are feeding some birds:
The air began to fill with the light, dusty sound of their wings, and the pips and peeps of their calls. They landed and landed, and Urdda's arms rocked at each landing. The birds were bright in the sun, and the busyness of them flaunted and flapped the sunlight so that Urdda felt radiant with them, as if they were a kind of fire flaming across the top of her. What a grand idea this was!
She stood straight and still, not frightening a single bird away, and Branza, hands clasped, watched her from the wood-edge until the birds had pecked up all the crumbs from Urdda's person, and all the spilled crumbs and and pieces from the grass around her feet, and one by one had flown off, leaving widening breaks in the flaring line of sunlight. Two sparrows must sit and preen awhile once they had fed, but when they were done they, too, darted away, and then Branza ran out of the trees in delight and satisfaction, waving the other bread-end. "Now me!" she said. "That was quite wonderful!"
Whilst I loved every word within this book, I found the story at times unnerving and difficult to follow. It dealt with issues such as abuse (physical, sexual and emotional) and incest in graphic detail and is certainly not for the faint of heart. It is marketed as a young adult book, however I don't think I personally would have enjoyed this book at that time of my life, and at the same time I know several grown up adults who would love this.
I was initially confused with the switching between worlds and times, and the narrative also switches between first and third person with regularity, and the first person sections have different narrators as well. I found this confusing at times and it took me a while to get used to this style. However I think this is also a very positive aspect of this book as it allows the reader to have perspective of both worlds and what goes on within each.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The writing often moved me to tears, but the story wasn't my favourite. I think this is really just because I'm new to fantasy/fairytale beyond His Dark Materials and Harry Potter. In saying that, I think this is such a valuable piece of writing, especially as it is written by an Australian author. And if you love anything fantastical and magical you will love this. And Margo Lanagan is a storytelling genius. Full stop. No argument. The end.
Imagine, always to have this arm at your waist, the arm of a good man and kind, who had been to your heaven and loved it too; who had seen your daughters in their childhoods there and begun wanting daughters himself.
Other Reviews
things mean a lot
my fluttering heart
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